Archaeology - Archaeology Magazinehttp://www.archaeology.org/
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 21:56:27 -0500Joomla! - Open Source Content Managementen-gbViolence May Have Forced Out Montezuma Castle Residentshttp://www.archaeology.org/5082-161209-arizona-montezuma-castle
http://www.archaeology.org/5082-161209-arizona-montezuma-castleCAMP VERDE, ARIZONA—Western Digs reports that archaeologist Matt Guebard of the U.S. National Park Service thinks that violent conflict may have led the Southern Sinagua people to abandon two dwellings built some 900 years ago in a rock shelter in central Arizona’s Verde Valley. In the 1930s, archaeologists found evidence that there had been fires in both structures, and it was later suggested that the buildings were ceremonially burned by the Sinagua. Guebard and his team re-examined the site, and consulted tribal groups whose ancestors lived in the region. New dates for charred wall plaster coincide with the styles of pottery found in one of the buildings, suggesting that it was in use up until the time of the fire, sometime between 1375 and 1395. A re-examination of the remains of four people found in a single grave revealed injuries and burns. And several oral histories describe a sudden, violent attack, perhaps by the ancestral Apache and Yavapai people, who may have been living in central Arizona much earlier than had been previously thought. “In this case, the oral histories and the archaeological data fit together really well,” Guebard said. To read more about archaeology in the Southwest, go to "Searching for the Comanche Empire."]]>NewsFri, 09 Dec 2016 22:22:06 -0500Lion-Headed Goddess Statues Unearthed in Luxorhttp://www.archaeology.org/5081-lion-headed-goddess-statues-unearthed-in-luxor
http://www.archaeology.org/5081-lion-headed-goddess-statues-unearthed-in-luxorLUXOR, EGYPT—Ahram Online reports that 3,000-year-old statues of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet have been found at the mortuary temple of King Amenhotep III in Luxor. The statues, including three busts and a headless torso, were unearthed in the temple’s hypostyle hall. Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities, explained that in Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet, the daughter of the sun god Re, defended her father against his enemies. Her statues in the temple are thought to have been intended to offer protection from evil and disease to the king. “They are of great artistic quality,” says Hourig Sourouzian, director of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project. When the excavation is completed, the statues will be returned to their original settings. To read about another recent discovery in Egypt, go to "The Cult of Amun."]]>NewsFri, 09 Dec 2016 21:34:40 -0500Traces of a Deadly Virus Detected in Celtic Potteryhttp://www.archaeology.org/5080-161209-pottery-organs-virus
http://www.archaeology.org/5080-161209-pottery-organs-virusWEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA—Science Magazine reports that traces of human remains and a deadly virus have been detected in pottery unearthed at Heuneburg, an Iron Age hillfort in Germany. A team led by Conner Wiktorowicz of Purdue University washed the pottery fragments with detergent to remove any residues on them, and then isolated and analyzed protein fragments in the residues. The results were compared to a national protein database, revealing that the pots contained human blood and organs. This is the first time that archaeologists have encountered human remains in pottery vessels in this region during the period between 600 and 450 B.C. Additional proteins in the residues suggest that the individual had Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, which is transmitted by ticks. Scholars now want to know if there was an epidemic of the disease in Iron Age Germany. The investigation also shows that protein analysis could help scientists identify other ancient viruses, which are usually studied through their nucleic acids. “Recovering nucleic acids from ancient viruses is extremely difficult and plagued by contamination,” says forensic anthropologist Angelique Corthals of the City University of New York. “Virus proteins are more readily accessible and less prone to degradation.” To read more about this period, go to "Hillforts of the Iron Age."]]>NewsFri, 09 Dec 2016 21:19:50 -0500Zinc Deficiency May Have Doomed Franklin Expedition Sailorhttp://www.archaeology.org/5079-161209-beechey-island-graves
http://www.archaeology.org/5079-161209-beechey-island-gravesNORTH SAANICH, CANADA—Naturereports that toxicologist Jennie Christensen and her colleagues used a synchrotron particle accelerator to measure the levels of copper, zinc, and lead throughout a toenail and a thumbnail recovered from the remains of John Hartnell, a sailor in the Franklin Expedition who was buried on Beechey Island. By tracking the changes in the levels of metals in the nails, the team was able to determine the levels of metals in Hartnell’s body in the weeks leading up to his death. The study suggests that he suffered from a severe zinc deficiency that may have suppressed his immune system and made him more vulnerable to disease. Lead poisoning and the delirium it can cause have been blamed for the failure of the Franklin Expedition, and the team did find high levels of lead in Hartnell’s body during his last few weeks of his life. But Christensen says that as Hartnell’s body broke down, lead stored in his bones was probably released into his bloodstream. Analytical chemist Ron Martin of Western University points out that all of the crew members would have been exposed to lead throughout their lives. His analysis of crew members’ bone fragments did not find a spike in lead levels. “The lead theory is pretty much dismantled by this point,” Martin says. To read more, go to "Franklin's Last Voyage."]]>NewsFri, 09 Dec 2016 20:37:34 -0500Thousands of Porcelain Pieces Mark Silk Road Porthttp://www.archaeology.org/5078-161208-shanghai-silk-road
http://www.archaeology.org/5078-161208-shanghai-silk-roadSHANGHAI, CHINA—Xinhuareports that thousands of pieces of porcelain have been unearthed at the site of Qinglong Town in suburban Shanghai. Historic documents indicate that the town was an important stop on the maritime Silk Road. The porcelain was made in south China and dates to the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–907) and the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1279). Similar porcelain goods have been found in Korea and Japan, according to archaeologist Jie Chen of the Shanghai Museum. “This shows the porcelain was transported to Qinglong from south China kilns and then exported to the Korean Peninsula and Japan by sea,” Chen said. For more, go to “China’s Legendary Flood.”]]>NewsThu, 08 Dec 2016 23:14:44 -0500When Did Smallpox Emerge? http://www.archaeology.org/5077-161208-lithuania-smallpox-virus
http://www.archaeology.org/5077-161208-lithuania-smallpox-virusHAMILTON, CANADA—The smallpox virus has been detected in the seventeenth-century mummy of a child found in a crypt at a church in Vilnius, Lithuania, according to a report in Seeker. “We believe this is the oldest smallpox genome sequenced to date,” said Ana Duggan of the McMaster University Ancient DNA Center. Duggan and her colleagues compared the seventeenth-century strain of the disease-causing virus with samples dating from 1946 to 1977. They found that all of the strains had a recent common ancestor that originated sometime between 1588 and 1645. Based upon scarring on ancient Egyptian mummies, it had been thought that the disease was thousands of years old. Evolutionary geneticist Hendrik Poinar, director of the Ancient DNA Center, says that the ancient cases may actually have been chicken pox or measles, and will require further investigation. The team also says the development of the smallpox vaccine in the late eighteenth century may have triggered the virus to split into two strains. “This raises important questions about how a pathogen diversifies in the face of vaccination,” Duggan said. To read about an excavation relating to Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine, go to "Letter from England: The Scientist's Garden."]]>NewsThu, 08 Dec 2016 22:52:52 -0500Reconstruction Offers a Possible Glimpse of Robert the Brucehttp://www.archaeology.org/5076-161208-robert-the-bruce
http://www.archaeology.org/5076-161208-robert-the-bruceGLASGOW, SCOTLAND—Researchers from the University of Glasgow and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) have reconstructed the face of Robert the Bruce, who ruled Scotland from 1306 to 1329, according to a BBC News report. His remains are thought to have been unearthed at Dunfermline Abbey around 1818, and although the bones were sealed in pitch and reburied, a cast of the skull was made and has been kept in a London museum. Nothing is known about Bruce’s appearance, but documents record that he suffered from an illness. The position of the skull bones in the cast allowed researchers to infer Robert's facial muscle formation and determine the shape and structure of his face, said craniofacial expert Caroline Wilkinson of LJMU. The team also found signs of leprosy on the upper jaw and nose of the skull cast, so they created versions of the king’s face with leprosy and without the disease, explaining that its effects may not have been very noticeable, since it was not documented. The researchers also gave the strong warrior king light brown hair and eyes in the reconstruction, based upon statistical evaluation. For more on Robert the Bruce, go to “Bannockburn Booty.”]]>NewsThu, 08 Dec 2016 22:09:05 -0500New Thoughts on Neolithic Staple Crops http://www.archaeology.org/5075-161207-neolithic-staple-crops
http://www.archaeology.org/5075-161207-neolithic-staple-cropsCOPENHAGEN, DENMARK—Researchers from the University of the Basque Country and the University of Copenhagen have analyzed plant remains collected from archaeological sites in southwest Asia, according to a report in the International Business Times. They found that between 11,600 and 10,700 years ago, legumes, fruits, and nuts were plentiful in the diets of people living in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, while cereals such as wheat and barley were the preferred foods in Jordan, Syria, Palestine, and Israel. The study suggests that cereals were domesticated between 10,700 and 10,200 years ago in the southern Levant, where they were popular, but not domesticated in the eastern Fertile Crescent for another 400 to 1,000 years. “It was surprising to discover that despite being considered very important, and despite their dominant role in our agriculture, domesticated cereals might not have been so important in Neolithic times, in many regions,” said archaeobotanist Amaia Arranz Otaegui. This suggests that examining the domestication of lentils, beans, and peas could help researchers understand the growth of agriculture in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. For more on archaeology in the area, go to “Mystery Buildings at Petra.”]]>NewsThu, 08 Dec 2016 00:17:14 -0500Transatlantic Slave Trade Studied With DNA http://www.archaeology.org/5074-161207-genome-transatlantic-trade
http://www.archaeology.org/5074-161207-genome-transatlantic-tradeRUPERT’S VALLEY, SAINT HELENA—Nature reports that Hannes Schroeder of the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues are studying the transatlantic slave trade by sequencing the genomes of people buried in slave cemeteries. One of the sites in the study is the African Graveyard on the island of Saint Helena, located in the South Atlantic Ocean. Between 1840 and the late 1860s, tens of thousands of people on board slave ships captured by the British Navy were dropped off on the island. Many of the survivors were relocated, but as many as 10,000 died on the island and were buried in the African Graveyard. Schroeder and his team collected DNA from the teeth of 63 individuals whose remains were recovered in a construction project, and then sequenced partial genomes of 20 of the samples. The results, when compared to DNA samples from modern African ethnic groups, suggest that the island’s refugees came from diverse populations in West and Central Africa. As the genomes of more living people in sub-Saharan Africa are sequenced, Schroeder and his team should find better matches. They are also analyzing the geochemistry of the teeth for information about where people spent their childhoods, and the modifications made to the teeth for clues to possible cultural ties. For more, go to “Tracing Slave Origins.”]]>NewsWed, 07 Dec 2016 22:51:23 -0500